Chapter 1- Back in the FAYZ

QUICK NOTE: I do apologise for the past technological problems earlier these past weeks; I think everything is okay now. Enjoy :)

Sam awoke with a jolt, an icy bead of sweat already soaking his back. His eyes scanned the room, wide awake and ready to pounce.
Nothing.
Just the dark.

There was always darkness to greet him ever since he left the FAYZ, the Fallout Alley Youth Zone, and still he found himself wishing he was back there, back with his friends; with Astrid and Quinn. He shook away the memories as he clambered out of bed, raising his palm. A gleaming ball of pure, white light sunk from the mahogany wardrobe and into his sweaty hand. Many in the FAYZ called them 'Sammy Suns' and until recently, Sam had never been able to conjure one up after the barrier was eradicated. Sam slipped out of his door and down the stairs, the ball of white light hanging above his shoulder like a guardian against the ominous darkness that loomed in the night. He trudged carefully down the carpeted staircase, wary of the billowing shadows in the sly corners of the hallway. His eyes darted to the left and to the right in a quick succession, the hairs on his back already on edge as he turned into the living room, hoping to see his mother. Normally he was greeted by the weary smile of his mother as she awoke from her dream deprived snooze but now he was welcomed by an not-so-warm surprise.

He remembered the FAYZ like it was yesterday, his brother Caine, Astrid and Little Pete...
Little Pete, of course.

As Sam turned on the light in his room he had a smack of realisation and already predicted that his mother would no longer be sprawled peacefully on the couch cushions; in fact his mother would be far, far away from Sam.

And who knows when she'll be back.